Automatic clutch release



June 24, 1930. H. w. DRENNAN 1,765,908

AUTO ATIC CLUTCH RELEASE Filed May 24, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 InventorJune 24, 1930. H. w. DRENNAN I AUTOMATIC CLUTCH RELEASE 2 M 0 Q \N N N}p a w Q %\\I| \N N M 0 N \N R c v \Q M U m 0 -IIII/ m o v Q By e Z 2MAttorney 20 under suchiconditions'. I

--'.--25'tion, can be readily. andlea'sily, applied to the vidcdwith avertieal slot 15, and through .g

Patntd n I I v ITE-DgST PAT U'roMeTIooLUrorrR LEAsE R g 1 Application m/ray 24, 1929. Serial 1-m;.se5--,771. This invention relatestoimprovements in andtheframe member? ofthefmoto 1 tractors foragricultural or -other purp'oses er4 adjacent the transmission housingshas andhasfor its primary-objecttheprovision' abracketgS risingltherefromg An elongated i ofan'automatio clutchrelease 'device,- whic hhorizontally-disposed rod 9. has oneend' 5 device is? adapted toybeoperated upon any. thereofs'ecured to thebracket .8 'as atj 5;. :55

incorrect movement of a plow or similarde- :Itawill ibenotedl thattherod 9"extendslpforq a vice which may be hitched [to the rear ofthewardly of thevtractor an'd galon'g'one side of I tractor. 1

theclutch pedalt. -..r11e-1 od;9 intermediate: Another-veryimportantobject of t he inits ends is projvided with anotch f 1'0" and p :1vention is towprovidegan automatic clutch said'zrod Qadjacentitsfreefend i's twisted a's o release especially adaptableifor, useon'ayMc-' .at 11 to terminate in a relativelyfiat .hori- CorlnickDeering'tractor, and which; maybe zontally disposed end portion.'lhe-rodj9Iis so associated' with th tra'ctor hitchiof thepreferablyformed-of metal or anyxother plow, towed by the-tract on sothat when; the durablelight material. 5' A inetallic j strap plowstrikessolid obstacles such asStOUBS-QI member 12 hasone end thereofpivoted to or. the like, whenl'plowing-hil1yor j rockysur oneside of thebrake pedal .6 as at 13f, and

V faces,'the device will beioperatedtodisen extends fforwardly ,in;spaced 'parallelism' gage the clutch, thus stopping the tractorys'owithv therod 9., The strap member, 12

as toprevent'theIplovvfromfbreaking'loose preferably-of metal andistwistedinterme- I I diate'its endsjas-e at13t o provide rajrela- .70 IAnother very.- important'bbject. of this intively fiat portion, theextremity of which vention is to provide an i automatic; clutch portionis bent; downwardly, to providea release fortractors of-thencharacterabove rightangularly disposedeXtension'14:. The mentioned which is--very simple inoonstrue downwardly} extended portion 14 i s protractorwithout alteringithe hitch of; the the slot l5iextends thevrodi 9 ,asshown to a tractor in any material manner; will" be advantageinfFiguresl -iandtb The notch;

strong, durable, practical; and thoroughly l0 'ofthe rodall:engages withthen-down} wardlyidisposed g portion 'li ofthe strap {12,

reliable in use and operation. 1 a v. I

-=230 Other objects and advantages of, at the upper endof the: notch 15,as-c lear1ye0 vention will become apparent duringa study shown invFigure 4. A suitablej olamping of the following-description, taken incon- {memberlfi is disposed' aboutthelower nection with the accompanyingdrawings, ofsthejclutoh pedal 6 andjaspringelo-has wherein: 1 i I one;end thereof engaged withth e'str ap 12,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation as: at175and5the'opp0site end:of the said s5 of a tractor'showing my improvedclutch ispring-isengagedwith the elampglfias at e releaseinechanism iassociated therewith; 118,;Thusit will be seen .thatethe springlfi Figure-2 isa fragmentary topplanview normallyholds thestrap. 12in engagement Oft same; 1 with the rod 9througlrthe' mediumof the Figure 3 15 31 detail' perspective -vievv' of'slotnl5; and notch formed-in the rod ,9?

one of the elements embodied in the invenjlVhen the member 12 is engagedwith. fil fi m 7 v rod 9 in thismanneras illustrated, it willbe Figure-eis a detail sectional view tak'en seen that the clutch pedal fizisnormally held on the 1ine4.'-%L of Figure in its engaged position. 1 I 15145 W'th reference more in detail-to the draw- For normally urgingthe-v clutch pedaljfi 9 5 I the McCormick Deerin'g"'lil arma'll tractoris preferably :of stee l -andis fi xed to the ing'; it will be seenthatfthe transmission forwardly to disengage the same, I- provide 7housing 'of ythe tractor is designated gen- ;a coi;l*spring18,;one endof whlch 1s fixedto ,erallylby the referencelcharacter5;l As. bethebracket .15, as shown and the oppos te 'forementioned,-the tractor ispreferably' of endfixed to'a plateQO asat 2 1, whici plate I ,Wheelcasing 22 of the tractor in any suit- 7 j able manner. A rod 23 has oneend thereof pivotally connectedto the bar 9 adjacent its 'itwisted endportion as at 24." This bar23 I depends downwardly from the. said rod 9and adjacent its 7 pivotal connection. the I rod 7 I :23- is providedwith 'a'nfin'wardly directed :laterallysextendingr arm 24!, whichtermisaid draw bar;

jl egs'fof the u-boltjust enough to' permita pull upon the plow when theplow is in: the

fin a manner similarto the right angularly jdisposedportion 14 of the;strap 12 and through" the slots'of the riser extend the ,.:bar 9 asclearly shown in Figure 1.1; It is to be noted'that' the upper extremityofthe nate's in a" right angularly disposed "riser" portion 25, whichriser. portion 25 is slotted riser terminates-in spaced relation to 5the horizontally disposed slot portion of, the

,strap 'l2lk i llo normallyhold the riser 25 out v i ofeng'agementcwith'the strap 12','I-provide 'alcoilj spring 26,-one end of which 'is as-.sociated with the downwardlydependin'grod a :23fasat 27 andthe oppositeend or said coil spring being fixedto' the adjacent end of the rodQas-at 28. The tractor "isprovided with the usual draw bares v and toone end of this raw bar;29 isl fixed an angularly shaped plate eo-asatel;

A 'h' rizontal baa-ham ad p'ivotally I connected to the plate 30*,"asamt-33, and this bar-'32 extends 'along ione side and has one end'pivotally connected-t the plate 30-asf fat 33, and this'bar'32extendsalong one side or of the draw-bar 29 and-has its opposite endsecuredaslat 33 to a clevis 34 which straddl'es thedrawibar 29 atthe'opposite'endof oThellink135 has'jone end-"thereof adjustably,associated with-a coupling'36 fixed to the' free -end of therod'23-asat87J The opposite end of the link: '35'is connected to theclevis as at 38, -A" U-bolt' '39 has its 'b'ight portionextendingfthrough the'rod32,

"as at 40, the legs of the U-bolt 39 straddling the d'rawibarl39'atoneend 'of the draw bar 7 vand adjajC-entthe'plate 3O. A steel plate {l1'zisfslidably supported on the legs ofth'e U.-

belt at one side of'the draw bar 29." Coiled about'eachjof the legsofthe U-bolt is M011 springf i2,{one} end of which @011 springisf adaptedto impinge against the face 41 and (the opposite end? of the coilspringsadapted to impinge against nuts 43, having threaded"engagementwith the free'end s' ofthe' respective legs. Thegtension onthe spring 42 is' determined by screwing thenuts 43 upon the ground;The. 'plows '(not shown) to be 7 V ,[drivenby'the tractor, are connectedto the ,b 'r' t ugh the, medium of a suitabl couplingt i;

-- V From the foregoing-them'it will beseen thatsho'uld theplowj strikea solid obstacle, the; same would cause. compression upon'the spr1ng42,thus permitting -the"bar 32 to 7 per portion of the hand" lever 45 is ahand fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention'and the scope ofthe appended V swing to the right of Figure 1,upon its 2 pivotalconnection with the plate 30, thus drawing the link 35 rearwardlyo-f thetrac- 'torfor actuating the rod-23, uponit's'pivotal 7 connection,thusbringing the riser 25 inengagement with the strap 12, disengaging thesaid strap-from the notch in the rod 9, whereupon it will be seen thatthrough the action of the coil-spring 18, the clutch pedal '6 will beurged forwardly, thus disengaging the clutch,'resulting"in a quickstopping of the'tractor, andthe'pi'evention of the-un couplingof theplowwith the. tractor. In order'to' manually reengag'e theclutch,

Iprovide a hand lever45, whichis secured to the clutchfpedal,- as at 46,andrises upwardly and rearwardlytherefrom'so-" as to the tractor.Pivotally connected to the up so be conveniently grasped :iby; theoperator or V operating lever 46, which is operatively as sociated withan angularly bentfplate 47 through the mediumof a link connection 48.

Theplate 47 which is pivotally nn 1 the lever 45' as at 49 is'connectedto, the

strap member-[12 through the mediumnofa link'connection'50. 1 Thus itwill be seen that, by grasping the hand 1everl4=5 and exerting 'a'slight pressure upon the: hand operating lever 46,; the strapmember 12maybe again engaged with the notch-onthe bar-9, after the-clutch pedalhas; been returned to; its

engaged osition" to thus retain the said clutch pedalsin 'saidengagedjpositlonn It is believed that fromtheforegoing d9?! scription,a' thorough knowledge of, theoperation, construction and advantagesjofthis 7 device'mayjbe' readilyand easily obtamedby.

those thoroughly skilled in this iartyand therefore "a -more detaileddescription there- :3. of is; deemed unnecessary. I r "IEven though Ihave herein shown and described, certain detailed, features o-f m ginvention, it is to be; understoodjthatthe invention is susceptible ofcertain changes,

therein, an angularly shapedstrap member pivoted to theclutch pedal andadapted-for y engagement with the notch in saidjrod for 1 holding saidclutch {pedal in an engaged r f "clutch pedal, said rodhaving anotchformed; v

position against-the action of said spring means, sald rod beingprovlded -w1th a rod having a laterally extending projection Vdownwardly depending rod pivotally asso ciated therewith, and said lastmentioned merging into a riser terminating in spaced relation to saidstrap member,.jmeansfon-the tractor for coupling a plowthereto', and

a means operatively associating said coupling means with said lastmentioned rod, whereby upon any untoward movement of the plow, said lastmentioned rod will be actuated for bringing said riser into engagementwith said strap member vfor disengaging said strap member with saidfirst mentioned rod for'permitting the said clutch pedal 'to assume adisengaged position. i

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a tractor,embodying among other parts, a clutch pedal, of an elongated rodhorizontally disposed on the tractor-and fixed rigidly thereto, said rodbeing disposed adjacent the clutch pedal, "an angularly shapedstrapmember pivoted .to'

the clutch pedal and provided with a slot through which said rodextends, and said rod being provided with a notch adapted for engagementwith the strap at one end of the slot, for holding said clutch pedal inan engaged position, spring means'for normally urging said clutch pedalin a disengaged position, and plow'coupling control means operativelyassociated with said strap and adapted to" disengage thestrap with saida rod to permit release of the clutch pedal;

3. In a device of the character described,-

the-combination of a tractor,. wherein the V tractor embodies" amongother parts, a

clutch pedal andadraw'banof an elongated horizontally disposed rodfixedto the frame of thetractor adjacent the clutchpedals, an angnlarlyshaped strap member pivoted to the'clutch pedaland provided with a slotthrough which said rod extends, said rod being provided with a notchadapted for engagement with the strap; atone end of a slot formed insaid;strap',,for holding vsaid j clutch pedal in an engaged position,spring with the third rod, a link connection between said third rod andthe free end. ofsaid sec- I 0nd rod. 1

4. In a device of the character described, the combination of a tractor,wherein the tractor embodiesamong other parts a, clutch pedaland a: drawbar, of ahorizontally disposed elongated rod fixed-tothe tractor, ad

jacent the clutch pedal, an angularly shaped strap member pivoted to theclutch pedal and provided with a'slot throughwhichsa-idsition againstthe action of said spring 1 rodeXtends,-said rod being rovided iaiganotch adapted" for engagement "withthej means for normally urging saidclutch pedal into a disengaged position, spring means for strap at oneendof theslot for holdingsaid} clutch pedal; in an engaged position,spring holding said strap in engagement, with said rod, a second rodpivotally: associated with and 'dependingf-from one end: of the firstmentioned rod, said second mentioned rod being' pr'ovided with alaterally extending proj ection merging' into 'a riser terminating inspaced ,relatlon to said strap member,

spring means-"associated with said second rod and said first rod forholding, said riser outvof engagement with. said strap,-a bar/"pivotallyi associated, with the drawbar of I l the tractor,'spring meansoperatively assof ci'ated with-saidbar'and said draw barfornormallyurging said bar, inwardly: of the draw Ibar, plow couplingmeansassociated with said :bar, and; anadjustable link connectionbetween thefree end of said barand a free end of said second rod.

'5. Ina device of the character described, the combination of a tractor,whereinthe tractor embodies among other. parts, a clutch pedal, of anelongated rod horizontally dis-- posed-on the tractor and fiired theretoadjacent the clutch. pedal, an'angularly shaped strap member pivotedtothe'clutch pedal and adapted to engage with the rod for tion, spring.means for normally urging the clutch pedal out of engaged -position,jasec.- ond rod depending from one end of the first "holding the clutch'pedalii'n anengagedposimentioned rod and pivotally associated itherewith, said second rodhaving-a laterally extending projection formergmginto a riser terminating in' spaced" relation to said v strapmember, plow coupling means asso-' V ciated with the tractor,meansoperatlvely i associated with said, plow coupling means and with thefree end of said second rod for: actuating said second rod to permit:an' en gagement of the riser with said strap member to'disengage saidstrap member with said Y first mentioned rod, meansfor permitting theclutch pedal'to assume a disengaged position, a hand lever rising fromtheo'lutch said hand lever and said strap to facilitate the engagementof the strap with said rod.

pedal, and means operatively associated with among other parts a clutchpedal, spring means for normally holding said clutch pedal in adisengaged position, a bar piv-' otally mounted at one end on thetractor, f

said bar having a notch formed therein, a;;

member pivotally engaged at one end with said-clutch pedal and havingits opposite end adapted for engagement with the notch for holding saidclutch pedal in engaged ponecting said coupling means'withthe firstmentioned rod, whereb y upon any untoward tmovement of the plow,saidfirst-mentioned I plow will be'actuated' for moving said notch means,means onfth e ,tra.cto'r for coupling a p-lowithereto, andvmeansop'e'ratively conout of engagement with the banpivoted tothe-clutch pedal for-permitting said clutch edal to assume a disen a ed"ositi'on under a we l: b i

the action of said spring means.

i I '(b Ina devicefof the character'descrihed, 1 the combination of atractor, embodying 7 7 among other parts-axjclutch *pedalgspringmeansfor 'normally hol ding :said clutch pedal inja disengaged position, a,bar pivotally mounted at one end on thetractor, said bar havinganotchformed therein, a memthereto," and means o-peratively' connecting:said coupling means with the firstmentioned V 7 rod, whereby upon anyuntoward movement of the plow, said first mentioned plow willbe'a-ctuated for moving said notch out ofien- I 'operatively associatingwiththe notched rod I 'IntestiInony whereof, I ailix my signature.

gagement with the bar pivoted 'to thelc'lutch' V pedal'forpermitting'saidclutch pedalto assume a disengaged'position under theaction of said spring-means,;said coupling'means comprising a stationarydraw bar, a'bar pivl- V otally associated with the draw ba'r,a link 7'adjustably connected atone end with the free end of said last mentionedbar,vsaid link constituting'a part of thereferred to means the couplingmeans HAROLD W, DRENNAN

